Clothes-line cover.



F. C. WASHBURN.

CLOTHES LINE COVER.

APPLICATION men mus 9. I91].

1 fi'i,535. Patented Dec. 10, 1918;

INVENTOR Florence C. waflzburn "It new": PETER: 0. rnmU-Lnno. munmamn. B. &

ATTORNEY FLORENCE C. WASHBURN, 0F NORWICH, NEW YORK.

CLOTHES-LINE covEn.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed June 9, 1917. Serial No, 173,846.

To all whom it may concern: 1

Be it known that I, FLORENCE G.-WASH BURN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Norwich, in the county of Chenango and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Clothes-Line Covers, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention has relation to a laundry accessory, and has for an object to provide means for covering a clothes line whereby clothes may be fastened thereto, without contacting with the clothes line proper, thereby preventing the clothes from becoming soiled.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device for covering clothes lines in the form of a strip of fabric or the like and a container therefor in the nature of a spring operated reel whereby to contain the cover within a confined space when not in use.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a clothes line cover having the above named characteristics, and means for creasing the cover while the same is being wound upon the reel to thereby bring the surfaces of the cover which have been in contact with the clothes line together, to prevent soiling of the other side of the cover by contact with the inside of the cover, which would occur were it not for the-provision ofthis means.

In addition to the foregoing my invention comprehends improvements in the details of construction and arrangement of the parts to be hereinafter more fully described and particularly set forth in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings in which similar and corresponding parts are designated by the same characters of reference throughout the several views in which they appear. Figure 1, is a view in side elevation of my device illustrating the same in use.

- Fig. 2, is a view of the device in edge elevation and Fig. 3, is a view in section taken on the line 33 of Fig. 2.

With reference to the drawings, 10 indicates the container or casing of the device, said casing comprising spaced disks 11 con- 0 nected by an annular wall 12 forming in effect a flat cylindrical casing as illustrated.

A handle structure designated as an entirety at 13 is provided for the container, and comprises a plate'14 secured to the exterior face of one of the members 11 and positioned radially thereonwith one extremity projecting beyond the periphery of the disk and formed with extensions 15 which are curved to, form a portion of a hinge joint which coacts with another member 16. Said member 16 is in the form of a plate corresponding in width to the width of the plate 14 and bent at right angles to provide a portion 17 and a portion 18. The portion 17 is formed upon one end with a lug for positioning between the extensions 15 of the plate 14 whereby a pintle inserted through said extensions and said lug, may connect the lates 16 and 14 for relative movement. T e member 18 is formed upon its extremity with a longitudinally extending slot 19 whereby when said member is disposed against the face of the disk member 11 opposite to the member carrying the plate 14, a turn. button20 on the first mentioned disk member may enter said slot 19 to secure the handle structure to the container. A handle 21 is secured to the portion 17 of the plate 16. A reel structure within the container is provided and comprises a pintle 22 whichis disposed centrally within the container and extended transversely thereof, and is held therein by means of screws 23 which penetrate both disk 11 centrally thereof and also the ends of the pintle to secure the pintle in place and against rotation relative to the casing. A drum 24 is disposed within the casing, and a coil spring 25 is 'inclosed within the drum and encircled about'the pintle with its inner end secured to' the pintle and its outer end to the interior surface of the drum as indicated in Fig. 3. A tongue 26 is struck up from the surface of the drum to enter an opening 27 formed in one end of the clothes line cover indicated at 28. The clothes line cover 28 is in the nature of a strip of fabric of standard length and when not in use is designed to be wound upon the drum and entirely housed within the container. The opposite end of the cover is provided with a ring. 29. to permit the cover to be withdrawn from :the. container when desired.

Patented Dec. 10, 1918.

- withdrawn partly from the casing and secured to the clothes line by. means of a the arrangement of clothes pin or other fastening in a manner to cover the upper surface of the clothes line. It .will benoted that the annular wall 12 is spaced inwardly from the periphery of the disk members 11 suiiiciently to permit the clothes line to pass between the annular wall of the casing and the portion '17 of the handle structure as "indicated in Fig. 2. Therefore, to unwind the cover, it is but necessary to grasp the-handle and move the device'along the clothes line away from the point of fastening of the cover to the line. The clothes may then be suspended upon the line and owing to the provision of the cover contact of the clothes line with the clothes will be absolutely obviated.

As the cover is unwound, the spring 25 within the drum is placed under strain whereby to rewind the cover on the drum when the device is disengaged from the clothes line. It will be obvious that owing to the provision of the extension 32 within the opening :30 through which opening the cover passes when being withdrawn from the container or wound up therein, a longitudin'allv extendingcrease is formed in the cover throughout its length thereby bringing the surfaceof the cover which contacted with the clothes line :on the inside of the crease, and permittin that portion of the cover which contacted with the clothes to be in contact as the cover is wound up. I-nthis manner, should the inner surface of the cover become soiled by contact with the clothes line, the outer surface of the cover will not become soiled by contact with the inside of the cover which would take place were it not for the doubling of the cover in the manner explained above. Therefore, the cover may be used and reused several times without possibility of soiling the clothing before it becomes necessary to clean the cover or substitute anew one in place of the old one.

While I have illustrated and described my invention with some degree of particularity, I realize that in practice various alterations thereover may bemade, and I therefore desire to reserve the right and privilege of changing the form of the details of construction, or otherwise altering the correlated parts without departing from the spirit of the invention, or the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. A clothes line cover including a strip of flexible material, adapted to be laid upon the upper surface of a. clothes line in contiguous relation thereto, carrying means for said strip When removed from the line, and

means carried by said strip carrying means for folding said strip.

2. A clothes line cover including a strip of flexible material adapted to be laid upon the upper surface of a clothes line and in contiguous relation thereto, a reel upon which the cover may be wound when not in use, and means for folding said strip to prevent contact of the line contacting face thereof with its opposite face when wound upon the reel.

3. A clothes line cover including a strip of flexible material, a container, a reel mounted within the container for rotation upon which the cover may be wound when not in use, and handle for said container adapted to receive the clothes line between the container and the handle, and means preventing contact of the opposite face of the strip when wound or unwound with respect to the reel.

1. A clothes line cover, including a strip of flexible material, a container, a reel mounted within the container around which the strip maybe wound when not in use, a spring acting upon the reel and adapted to be placed under strain when the cover is unwound whereby the cover may be automatically wound upon the reel when the spring is'released, a handle carried by the container adapted to straddle the clothes line when vsaid container is supported thereon and means carried by the container for folding the strip as wound and permitting the same to be spread upon the line when unwound.

5. A clothes line covering device including a strip of flexible material, a container,

a handle structure including a handle, and

a substantially U-shaped 7 member secured thereto for engagement at opposite sides of the container whereby to receive the clothes line within said Ushaped member and between said member and reel mounted within the container around the container, and a In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of tWo Witnesses.

FLORENCE G. WASHBURN. Witnesses:

Roxn V. TILLMAN, NELLIE H. SHORT.

ing a container having an opening, a reel mounted Within the container, a strip adapted to enter the opening of the container and to be Wound upon the reel, and a finger ex- 5 tending into said opening to crease the strip as the same is being wound upon the reel.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the commissioner of intents. Washington, D. 0. 

